Eastern Men's Basketball fell to Gwynedd-Mercy College in their home opener in front of a crowd of just over 500. Derek Wright came off the bench to lead the Eagles with 16 points and Daryl Leegwater scored 14 points in his first home game in the Maroon and White. The Griffins shot nearly 58% in the second half to erase a two point halftime deficit and improve to 1-0 in PAC play.

Entering this evening's PAC opener, Eastern had played well in spurts, but had been undone by some stretches of offensive inefficiency that led to big runs by the opposition to close the first half. Against Gwynedd-Mercy, the Eagles looked to be gaining momentum at the three minute mark when Derek Wright hit a pair of three-point field goals on consecutive possessions to give Eastern an eight point edge with two minutes to play. The Eagles were unable to capitalize on several inside opportunities, and the Griffins cut that deficit to 2 with a 6-0 run over the last two minutes of the half to close the half down 33-31. The missed opportunities of the last two minutes of the half would come back to haunt the Eagles in the second half.

Early in the game, it appeared that Leegwater and Mike Johnson were going to be able to control the inside, but the Griffins responded by tightening up their zone and the Eagles connected on just 4 of 14 shots from behind the arc. Leegwater had 12 points at the break to lead all scorers.  

The Griffins controlled the tempo in the second half and connected on 15-18 foul shots to outpace the Eagles 79-68. Lamiere Talley led four Gwynedd-Mercy players in double figures with 17 points. Matt Johnson chipped in with 16.

Things do not get easier for the Eagles who will host PAC favorite Alvernia in the second game of a men's and women's double-header to be played this Saturday. The Women's game starts at 1:00. Both games will be live on the web through the PAC website.